The present invention relates to a vehicle guidance device, and more particularly to a device which is suitably applied when an unmanned off-road dump truck is guided to travel on a work site such as a mine.
In a mine of a large area, an unmanned vehicle guidance traveling system for guiding to travel an unmanned vehicle such as an unmanned off-road dump truck is becoming commercially practical in order to liberate from hard work, to reduce a production cost and to decrease a fuel cost or the like.
The above unmanned vehicle is provided with a position measuring device for measuring its traveling position by GPS (global positioning system). Meanwhile, a monitor station which monitors a plurality of unmanned vehicles has position data of traveling courses along which the unmanned vehicles shall travel determined and stored by measuring a work site or by teaching. Upon receiving the position data of the traveling courses from the monitor station by radio communications or the like, the unmanned vehicle measures its own position (and direction) by the position measuring device mounted on it, compares the measured current position with its sequential positions on the traveling course and controls to steer the vehicle so to sequentially reach the respective positions on the traveling course.
As a method of obtaining the position data of a traveling course, for example a teaching method, which stores the traveling route of a teaching vehicle which is actually traveled, is commonly used.
The teaching vehicle actually travels to obtain position data of a route from a travel starting point to a target point or a route from a travel starting point to a travel termination point via a target point so that the unmanned vehicle shall pass through the target point. There is also method of generating a traveling course from position data of a target position obtained by teaching only the position data of the target position.
As shown FIG. 12, this mine has earth unloading area 21 where unmanned vehicle 13 works to carry and unload earth and sand, namely performs an earth unloading work. Position data of traveling course 27 having target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 in the earth unloading area 21 are obtained by the teaching method. When the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 in the earth unloading area 21 are not many (about 10 points), the frequency of the teaching work can be little, and time and man-hour required to generate the traveling course can be little.
Actually, the. earth unloading area 21 in a large-area mine or the like is vast, and the target earth loading points 26xe2x80x2 in the earth unloading area 21 are so many of about hundreds of points. Therefore, to obtain the position data of the traveling course 27 for each of the multiple earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the earth unloading area 21 by the teaching work, the frequency of teaching work becomes many, and time and man-hour required for generation of the traveling course become huge. Therefore, work efficiency is heavily degraded.
But, conventionally known publications do not describe a technology that time and man-hour for generating a traveling course are reduced so to enhance work efficiency where an earth unloading area has many target earth unloading points and the traveling course is generated so to pass through the target earth unloading points.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-187238 descries an invention which enhances the work efficiency by controlling the order that a vehicle accesses a plurality of earth unloading points. But, it does not disclose the enhancement of the work efficiency by easily preparing the traveling course to the multiple target earth unloading points in the earth unloading area.
Besides, it is necessary to dispose the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 uniformly and closely as much as possible within the earth unloading area 21 in order to efficiently perform the earth unloading work and subsequent leveling work. But, it is practically hard to obtain the position data of the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 by a manual teaching work so that the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 are uniformly and closely arranged as much as possible within the earth unloading area 21.
The method of obtaining the position data of the target points also includes a method of receiving position data from a vehicle such as a wheel loader located at a target point in addition to the teaching method. But, even such a method cannot receive position data of the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 from the vehicle if the vehicle such as a wheel loader is not present in the earth unloading area 21.
The present invention was achieved in view of the aforesaid circumstances. And, it is an object of the invention to enhance work efficiency in generating a traveling course by enabling to readily generate the traveling course for each of a plurality of target points in a target area without requiring much time and man-hour when an earth unloading area (target area) to which the vehicle has to reach is provided without depending on a conventional method such as the teaching method. Besides, it is an object of the invention to enhance work efficiency of earth unloading and land-leveling works by uniformly and closely forming a plurality of target earth unloading points in the earth unloading area.
A first aspect of the invention is a vehicle guiding device which receives position data of target points where a vehicle is to reach and guides the vehicle to travel to the target points according to the position data of the target points, the device comprising:
area data input means for inputting position data of a borderline of a target area where the vehicle is to reach;
target point generating means for generating position data of a plurality of target points in the target area according to the position data of the target area which are inputted to the area data input means; and
guidance means for sequentially guiding the vehicle to travel to the plurality of target points in the target area by sequentially giving the position data of the plurality of target points generated by the target point generating means.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the position data of the plurality of target points 27xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 are generated according to the position data (position data of the borderline 20) of the target area 21 which are entered the area data input means 3 as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 and FIG. 7. And, the generated position data of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . are sequentially given to sequentially guide the vehicle 13 to travel to the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21.
Thus, according to the first aspect of the invention, the position data of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2 . . . are obtained automatically without depending on a conventional method such as the teaching method. In other words, when the target area 21 to which the vehicle 13 has to reach is given, the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . are automatically generated in the target area 21. Therefore, traveling course 27 can be generated easily without requiring much time and man-hour compared with the conventional teaching method. As a result, the efficiency of the traveling course generation work is improved remarkably.
A second aspect of the invention is directed to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the target area is an earth unloading area where earth and sand are unloaded.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the target area is the earth unloading area 21 where earth and sand are unloaded as shown in FIG. 12.
A third aspect of the invention is directed to the second aspect of the invention, wherein the target point generating means arranges a plurality of target earth unloading points at equal intervals in the earth unloading area according to the position data of the borderline of the earth unloading area and data indicating an arrangement interval of the target earth unloading points.
According to the third aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the plurality of target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . are laterally arranged by pitch d of equal intervals and longitudinally arranged by pitch h of equal intervals according to the position data of the borderline 20 of the earth unloading area 21 and data (template 33) indicating arrangement intervals d, h of the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 so that they are arranged in the maximum number in the earth unloading area 21. Thus, the earth unloading work can be performed efficiently because the target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 can be arranged uniformly and closely. And, piles 26c are formed uniformly and closely in the earth unloading area 21. Therefore, where a leveling work is performed after the earth unloading work, the piles 26c can be leveled uniformly, and the leveling work can be performed efficiently.
A fourth aspect of the invention is a vehicle guidance device which is provided with vehicle position measuring means for measuring a current position of an own vehicle, receives position data of target points where the vehicle is to reach, generates data of a traveling course which is routed to pass through the target points according to the position data of the target points, and compares the current vehicle position measured by the vehicle position measuring means with a position on the generated traveling course to guide the own vehicle to travel along the traveling course, the device comprising:
area data input means for inputting position data of a borderline of a target area where the vehicle is to reach;
target point generating means for generating position data of a plurality of target points in the target area according to the position data of the target area which are inputted to the area data input means;
traveling course generating means for generating for each of the target points data of a traveling course, which is routed from an entrance of the target area to one of the plurality of target points in the target area and to an exit of the target area, according to the position data of the plurality of target points in the target area generated by the target point generating means; and
guidance means for sequentially guiding the vehicle to travel along each of the traveling course generated by the traveling course generating means.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the position data of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 are generated according to the position data (position data of the borderline 20) of the target area 21 which are entered the area data input means 3 as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 and FIG. 7. And, according to the generated position data of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . , the position data of the traveling course 27 routed from the entrance of the target area 21 to reach one of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 and to the exit of the target area 21 are generated for each of the target points 26xe2x80x2. The vehicle 13 is guided to travel along the respective generated traveling courses 27, 27 . . . .
Thus, according to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the target area 21 to which the vehicle 13 has to reach is given without depending on a conventional method such as the teaching method, the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . are automatically generated in the target area 21, and the traveling curse 27 is generated for each of the target points 26xe2x80x2. Therefore, the traveling course 27 can be generated easily without requiring such time and man-hour as the conventional teaching method does. As a result, the efficiency of traveling course generating work is improved remarkably.
A fifth aspect of the invention is directed to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the target area is an earth unloading area where earth and sand are unloaded.
The fifth aspect of the invention is applied where the earth unloading work is performed in the earth unloading area in the same way as the second aspect of the invention.
A sixth aspect of the invention is directed to the fifth aspect of the invention, wherein the target point generating means arranges the plurality of target earth unloading points at equal intervals in the earth unloading area according to the position data of the borderline of the earth unloading area and data indicating the arrangement intervals of the target earth unloading points.
According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the same effect as the third aspect of the invention can be obtained.
A seventh aspect of the invention is directed to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein:
the area data input means comprises means for inputting position data of the entrance point and the exit point of the target area, and
the traveling course generating means generates for each of the target points data of the traveling course, which is routed from the entrance point of the target area to one of the plurality of target points in the target area and to the exit point of the target area, according to the position data of the entrance point and exit point of the target area.
According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the position data of the traveling course 27, which is routed to pass the entrance point 22 of the target area 21 to reach one of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 and to pass the exit point 23 of the target area 21, are generated for each of the target points 26xe2x80x2 according to the position data of the entrance point 22 and the exit point 23 of the target area 21 as shown in FIG. 13.
An eighth aspect of the invention is a vehicle guidance device which is provided with vehicle position measuring means for measuring a current position of an own vehicle, receives position data of target points where the vehicle is to reach, generates data of a traveling course routed to pass through the target points according to the position data of the target points, and compares the current vehicle position measured by the vehicle position measuring means with a position on the generated traveling course to guide the own vehicle to travel along the traveling course, the device comprising:
area data input means for inputting position data of a borderline of a target area where the vehicle is to reach;
untravelable area data input means for inputting position data of an untravelable area indicating an area where the vehicle cannot travel;
target point generating means for generating position data of a plurality of target points in the target area according to the position data of the target area which are inputted to the area data input means;
traveling course generating means for generating for each of the target points data of a traveling course, which is routed from an entrance of the target area to reach one of the plurality of target points in the target area and to an exit of the target area so not to pass the untravelable area, according to the position data of the plurality of target points in the target area generated by the target point generating means and the position data of the untravelable area which are inputted to the untravelable area data input means; and
guidance means for sequentially guiding the vehicle to travel along each of the traveling courses generated by the traveling course generating means.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the same effect as the fourth aspect of the invention can be obtained.
Besides, according to the eighth aspect of the invention, the position data of the traveling course 27 routed to pass from the entrance of the target area 21 to reach one of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 and to the exit of the target area 21 so not to pass the untravelable area (other than the travelable area 24) are generated for each of the respective target points 26xe2x80x2 according to the position data of the plurality of target points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the target area 21 and the position data (position data of travelable area 24) of the untravelable area as shown in FIG. 11.
According to the eighth aspect of the invention, even if the target earth unloading point 26xe2x80x2 is in the neighborhood of the borderline 20, the traveling course 27 is corrected so that an earth unloading direction is changed from 31 to 31a to prevent the vehicle 13 from passing any area other than the travelable area 24. Thus, the vehicle 13 can be prevented from interfering with a wall or falling over a cliff. Therefore, the vehicle 13 can be guided safely to travel according to the eighth aspect of the invention.
A ninth aspect of the invention is directed to the eighth aspect of the invention, wherein the target area is an earth unloading area where earth and sand are unloaded.
The ninth aspect of the invention is applied for the earth unloading work in the earth unloading area in the same way as the second aspect of the invention.
A tenth aspect of the invention is directed to the ninth aspect of the invention, wherein the target point generating means arranges the plurality of target earth unloading points at equal intervals in the earth unloading area according to the position data of the borderline of the earth unloading area and the data indicating an arrangement interval of the target earth unloading points.
According the tenth aspect of the invention, the same effect as the third aspect of the invention can be obtained.
An eleventh aspect of the invention is directed to the eighth aspect of the invention, wherein:
the untravelable area data input means comprises means for inputting the position data of an entrance point and an exit point of the target area, and
the traveling course generating means generates for each of the target points data of the traveling course, which is routed from the entrance point of the target area to reach one of the plurality of target points in the target area and to the exit point of the target area so not to pass the untravelable area, according to the position data of the entrance point and the exit point of the target area.
According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, the traveling course 27 is generated according to the position data of the entrance point 22 and the exit point 23 of the target area 21 in the same way as the seventh aspect of the invention.
A twelfth aspect of the invention is a vehicle guidance device which is provided with vehicle position measuring means for measuring a current position of an own vehicle, receives position data of target points where the vehicle is to reach, generates data of a traveling course routed to pass through the target points according to the position data of the target points, compares the current vehicle position measured by the vehicle position measuring means with a position on the generated traveling course to guide the own vehicle to travel along the traveling course, the device comprising:
earth unloading area data input means for inputting position data of a borderline of the earth unloading area where earth and sand are to be unloaded;
target point generating means for generating position data of a plurality of target earth unloading points in the earth unloading area according to position data of the earth unloading area which are inputted to the earth unloading area data input means;
traveling course generating means for sequentially generating for each of the target earth unloading points data of the traveling course, which is routed to pass an entrance of the earth unloading area to reach a first target earth unloading point and to pass an exit of the earth unloading area so not to pass the target earth unloading points on the previously generated traveling course, according to the position data of the plurality of target earth unloading points in the earth unloading area generated by the target point generating means; and
guidance means for guiding the vehicle to travel along the traveling course sequentially generated by the traveling course generating means.
The same effect as the fourth aspect of the invention can be obtained according to the twelfth aspect of the invention.
According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 13, the position data of the traveling course 27 routed to pass the entrance of the earth unloading area 21 to reach the first target earth unloading point 26xe2x80x2 and to pass the exit of the earth unloading area 21 so not to pass the target earth unloading point 26xe2x80x3 (point where pile 26c is formed) on the previously generated traveling course are generated sequentially for each of the respective target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2 according to the position data of the plurality of target earth unloading points 26xe2x80x2, 26xe2x80x2 . . . in the earth unloading area 21.
According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, the traveling course 27 is changed from a broken line to a solid line so not to pass the target earth unloading point 26xe2x80x3 (point where the pile 26c is formed) on the previously generated traveling course. Thus, the vehicle 13 does not interfere with the formed pile 26c (earth unloading point 26xe2x80x3). Thus, the vehicle 13 is prevented from colliding with the pile 26c possibly resulting in a serious accident. And, the vehicle 13 can be guided to safely travel according to the twelfth aspect of the invention.
A thirteenth aspect of the invention is directed to the twelfth aspect of the invention, wherein the target point generating means arranges the plurality of target earth unloading points at equal intervals in the earth unloading area according to the position data of the borderline of the earth unloading area and the data indicating the arrangement intervals of the target earth unloading points.
The same effect as the third aspect of the invention can be obtained according to the thirteenth aspect of the invention.
A fourteenth aspect of the invention is directed to the twelfth aspect of the invention, wherein:
the earth unloading area data input means comprises means for inputting position data of an entrance point and an exit point of the earth unloading area; and
the traveling course generating means generates sequentially for each of the target points data of the traveling course, which is routed to pass the entrance point of the earth unloading area to reach the first target earth unloading point in the earth unloading area and to pass the exit point of the earth unloading area so not to pass the target earth unloading points on the previously generated traveling course, according to the position data of the entrance point and the exit point of the earth unloading area.
According to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, the traveling course 27 is generated according to the position data of the entrance point 22 and the exit point 23 of the target area 21 in the same way as the seventh aspect of the invention.